Hell's Kitchen (U.K.)
Hell's Kitchen is a British cookery reality show airing on ITV which features prospective chefs competing with each other for a final prize. Four series have aired since 2004, three presented by Angus Deayton and the latest by Claudia Winkleman. The show has had different formats and different head chefs for each season so far. The original, chef Gordon Ramsay decided it was unacceptable after the first series owing to an exclusive contract he had since signed with Channel 4, preventing him from appearing on the ITV-produced show. A fourth series began airing from 13 April 2009 and was presented by Claudia Winkleman. Synopsis Series 1 of Hell's Kitchen in the UK was broadcast in late spring 2004. It starred Gordon Ramsay as the Head Chef tutoring celebrities how to cook. The show, which ran nightly for two weeks, placed ten celebrities in a specially constructed London restaurant-kitchen with the task of catering for a clientele of famous people. The celebrities who took part were: Jennifer Ellison was declared the winner after a series of public elimination votes (in the style of Big Brother). A follow-up programme was made afterwards called Hell's Kitchen: School Reunion, which saw Ellison and the show runner-up, James Dreyfus, team up to organise a healthy dinner service for the children at the naked chef former school. Series 2 of Hell's Kitchen in the UK was broadcast in spring 2005. The format was overhauled as the show was turned into a competition between two kitchens run by celebrity chefs Gary Rhodes and Jean-Christophe Novelli. The second series featured ten members of the public competing for a prize of £250,000, with which the winner could start their own restaurant. They were split into two teams of five, one red (tutored by Gary Rhodes) and the other blue (led by Jean-Christophe Novelli). A new and much larger restaurant was built to accommodate the fact that there were now two kitchens. The only things that remained the same in the second series were the music, by composer Daniel Pemberton, and the presenter, who was still Angus Deayton. Elimination was still down to voting. It was won by Terry Miller. The Blue Team Head Chef Jean- Christophe Novelli *Henry Filloux-Bennett *Aby King *Gary Tomlin *Kellie Cresswell *Stien Smart The Red Team Head chef Gary Rhodes *Terry Miller *Simon Gross *Aaron Siwoku *Caroline Garvey *Sam Raplin Series 3 was due to begin in summer 2006, with Jean-Christophe Novelli as the sole head chef; however, ITV made the decision to take a break from producing Hell's Kitchen. The network then announced in February 2007 that it had commissioned a new series of the show, to begin in autumn 2007, this time with Michelin starred Marco Pierre White as head chef. The new series began on 3 September 2007 at 9:00 pm, reverting to the original format of having celebrities as contestants. This series saw Jim Davidson ejected from the show following alleged homophobic behaviour against gay contestant Brian Dowling. The series ended on 17 September 2007, with Barry McGuigan crowned winner. Marco had two sous chefs Matthew and Timothy. The celebrities who took part were: Series 4 began on 13 April 2009. Marco Pierre White returns as Head Chef/teacher. Claudia Winkleman took over as host, replacing Angus Deayton. This series there was one kitchen with grey and dark red tiles. The first four sackings were Marco's responsibility, while the other four sackings were down to a public vote (the person with the lowest amount of votes left Hell's Kitchen). Nick Munier returned as Maitre d', as did Sous Chefs Matthew and Timothy. Linda Evans won from public voting on 27 April 2009. The celebrities taking part are: 6 *[http://www.itv.com/hellskitchen Hell's Kitchen] at itv.com *[http://www.stv.tv/hellskitchen Hell's Kitchen] at stv.tv *[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412137/ Hell's Kitchen] at the Internet Movie Database